Advanced Graduate Certificates

Advanced Graduate Certificate in Mental Health Counseling

Students who have earned a masters degree in counseling (i.e., the word “counseling” is part of the degree title, such as School Counseling) are eligible to apply to the certificate program. The Advanced Graduate Certificate (AGC) consists of 4 required courses and an internship, total credits may vary from 18 to 24 (or more in some cases). Earning the certificate will enable the student to become eligible for license as a Mental Health Counselor in New York State (i.e., eligible to take the license exam and begin earning 3000 hours of pre-professional experience).

The following courses are offered by distance education or traditional classroom format. To be eligible for the online courses students should live 60+ miles outside of Buffalo NY or have other extenuating circumstances that prevent them from attending classes on campus. To find out more about the Online AGC in MHC go to: http://gse.buffalo.edu/online

Required Courses (12 credits)

The following courses will be required for the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Mental Health Counseling and will be offered in the traditional classroom and distance format:

Students who have previously completed a required course as part of their graduate work must work with their advisor to substitute an alternate course offered by the Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology (CSEP) to meet the 18 - 24 semester hour AGC requirements.

Clinical Experience (CEP600 Internship, 12 credits)

Students who have not completed a minimum of 600 hours of clinical internship experience under a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), or NYSED approved equivalent in a previous program, are required to complete CEP 600 MH Internship – Mental Health Counseling (minimum of 600 clock hours) (12 credits).
If the internship requirements have been previously met, and meet, or exceed, all of the current NYSED guidelines for internships, 6 of the 12 internship credits may be waived, thus allowing the Certificate to be earned with 18 instead of 24 credits. Academic advisors will be responsible to ensure that all alternate coursework for remaining credits meets NYSED standards.